Month: August 2011

About 2,000 to 3,000 new cases of mesothelioma is diagnosed every year in the United States of America. Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer and it is an after effect of the asbestos exposure. The cancerous cells affect and destroy the mesothelium, which is a protective sac that holds the internal organs of the body. Initially, pleura or peritoneum are affected and then it spreads to the other parts of the body. It is a fatal disease and most victims do not survive beyond around one year after diagnosis, depending on the treatment and other contributing factors.

What is mesothelioma prognosis?

Prognosis for mesothelioma is dependent on the promptness of diagnosis and the treatment offered the victim. The earlier treatment is initiated the better the prognosis of the patient.

Also other factors that determine prognosis include the type of treatment, the histological {cellular type} type of mesothelioma as well as patient’s general state of health and morale. The stage of the disease during diagnosis is another crucial factor that decides the prognosis and the minimum survival expectancy of the victim.

Amongst the staging systems the oldest of them all is the Butchart system, based on the extent of mass, primary tumor and segregates the cancer into four stages. The TNM system is a more recent one while the Brigham system is the latest. It uses resectability and lymph node involvement for staging mesothelioma. Generally the higher the stage of the cancer the worse the prognosis of the victim. Sadly however most of the time diagnosis is made when the cancer is already in its advanced and latter stages, this is attributed to the long incubation period and the non specificity of the symptoms .

The traditional kinds of treatments are also prevalent in case of malignant mesothelioma include Radiation therapy which uses high-energy X-rays to eradicate cancer cells and chemotherapy which tries to destroy the cancer cells with the use of anticancer drugs.  Other forms of newer treatment options include Immunotherapy which helps to strengthen the immune system and photodynamic therapy that uses light energy while the genetic therapy resurrects the inherent genetic defects of the patient to fight the disease.

Surgery is also one of the traditional modes of treatment. There are different types of surgeries that are used: the process of removing fluid from the chest is known as thoracentesis while fluid reduction from the abdomen is known as paracentesis. The surgical removal of a part of the chest or the abdominal lining is called pleurectomy and if the lung is removed, then the operation will be termed as pneumonectomy.

When these treatment modalities are appropriately combined in the treatment of Mesothelioma especially in cases that are detected early, they can increase your 5 year life expectancy up to 10%.

By: Bello Gbenga

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